Hints:
- Found while weeding the garden last weekend.
- While it’s not that exotic, I’ve actually never seen one before.
How to play:
- Leave your guess in the comments.
- Check back next week for the answer.
Have a good weekend, everyone.
Category Archives: Animals
Ready for Rover
Matt and I are ready to expand our family. But not in the way you might think.
We’re expecting a furry, four-legged bundle of joy in the next month or so. Last year we were distracted by our four furry, four-legged feline bundles of joy. This year we’re hoping for something of the canine variety.
We haven’t met our new addition yet. We’re planning to adopt, so we’re keeping watch on the local shelter and foster web sites.
In the meantime, we’ve been readying his or her room. There was already a dog run behind the driveshed, but it was a little run down.
Homey, no?
Matt and my Dad spent an afternoon clearing out the barn doors, pallets, rocks and weeds. They patched the siding, built a sun shade/elevated perch and made the gate swing the right way.
My job was the house, which is an insulated box inside the driveshed. (Ignore the clutter around and on the house. Cleaning up the driveshed is on the summer to-do list, right below playing with our new dog.)
I converted the house from a duplex to a one bedroom and blocked off the second entrance. I also had the pleasure of cleaning out the interior. I don’t know who the most recent residents were, but no self-respecting dog would create such a mess in its den. In addition to the… mess, there was a piece of carpet, a few bones, a couple of toys and some hunks of ropes. Cleaning it out was a lovely job.
However, the job is done and now our doggy will have a lovely home.
Doggy won’t be expected to spend all of his or her time outside. We want someone relatively energetic who will go for runs, hikes and long walks with us, but also someone who is relaxed enough to be inside the house when we’re cooking dinner or watching TV.
Anyone have any suggestions on breeds with a good balance of energy and calmness? I’d like a big dog (the bigger the better in my opinion), but Matt’s a fan of the smaller varieties (not tea cup or handbag size, but a funny looking Boston terrier is his ideal).
What about advice on adopting a dog? I like the idea of helping a dog who needs a home, but I’ll admit that I’m concerned that we might end up with a dog that has behavioural issues. I’d appreciate any tips anyone has.
Happy birthday, Easter
Our fluffball, our baby, our idiot, our kitten, our Easter turns one year old this week.
She snuggles like a baby.
She has the attention span of a toddler.
She has the ambition of a teenager and is keen to get her driver’s license.
She wrestles with her mama Ralph, errant stones on the driveway or the strings on my lawn chair.
She’s always starving and has been known to break into the house in order to get to the milk at the bottom of my cereal bowl (seriously, she’s crafty). She has also learned to hunt for herself.
She thinks she’s a dog, chasing sticks, digging holes and coming when Matt whistles.
Her voice is still her squeaky kitten meow unless she thinks we’re abandoning her–going down the driveway to take out the garbage or walking around the corner of the house out of her line of sight are cause for very long loud meows.
Around the farm, she’s known as baby (my label), BH (Matt’s holdover from when we called her “Big Head“), DB (“Dancing Bear,” Matt’s label for her tendency to rear up on her hind legs so that you can scratch her head), and occasionally Easter.
Happy birthday, Easter.
Doe a deer
It’s apparently wild kingdom week here on the blog, and I’ve saved the best for last.
For the past week or so, deer have been grazing in the back field. They show up every night around 8 o’clock and eat their bed time snack before heading back into the bush.
Some nights there’s been only one. Usually there’s a group of three or four. The high point was a herd of seven.
We can walk partway along the back lane towards the field without them bolting. Usually we just watch them with binoculars and try not to spook them.
Fortunately, Matt’s brother, who came to visit last weekend, has a better camera than we do–and is also apparently a bit of a deer whisperer–because he was able to get quite close and get the best pictures so far for us. Thanks, Greg!
Operation identification
While I didn’t see any ducks or geese at the pond this past weekend, there were lots of other animals. Red-winged blackbirds, a turtle, a frog, seven (!) fish, jitterbugs, waterstriders and this guy.
It’s been almost exactly a year since I asked for your help in identifying a pond creature. I’m pretty confident that last year’s was a beaver as everyone said. I’m also pretty confident that this guy is not a beaver.
I know the video is not the best. He was all the way on the other side of the pond, and it turns out that’s quite a ways away. But what do you think? Is he a mink? A weasel? The Loch Ness Monster?
For rent: pond (feathery young couple with family aspirations preferred)
Our tenants on the pond seem to be changing daily. Everybody seems to be looking for the best spot to set up housekeeping.
Our usual guests are Canada geese and mallard ducks–or both as seen in this picture from a few weeks ago.
I went down to the pond to get a more up to date picture on Saturday and only succeeded in spooking a very large solitary Canada goose. Actually, that’s not entirely true. I also succeeded in catching a nap, as I got tired of sitting quietly on the shore waiting for a bird to show up and laid back in the grass where I fell asleep. I also succeeded in getting my first sunburn of the year as a result of laying flat on my back with no shade.
Anyways, back to the uncooperative birds.
They mostly show up in pairs, although we have hosted singles as well as three mallard drakes for a bachelor party–perhaps the word on the wing is that our pond is the neighbourhood mixer?
Everybody is pretty spooky. I can’t get too close without them springing from the water and flying away–as my Canada goose did on Saturday. I am hoping that a nice young couple comes our way soon and decides that our pond is the perfect spot to start a family. I promise, I won’t take anymore naps on their lawn.
A cat way to spend the day
Home from work one day a few weeks ago with a bad cold (my third time being sick this winter–I am not impressed), I discovered how Ralph spends her day when she thinks no one is watching.
While I set up my laptop on the dining room table and went to work, Ralph blithely ignored her day job of keeping the rodents and other small animals in line.
She had a friend over to visit.
We’ve seen Cow Cat a few times, but he’s pretty shy. As soon as he saw me snap his picture through the mudroom window he took off.
Lonely, Ralph came to the dining room looking for company.
She napped. She sunbathed. She talked to me through the glass.
And occasionally I responded.
No screens for the winter mean we have a walk up scratching window.
What Ralph did not do at any point during her day was hunt. In fact, by late afternoon, she turned her back on me and focused her attention down the driveway, waiting for Matt to come home and feed her.
Ralphy, I think you’re going on a diet now that it’s spring. Agri-Cat kibble will be rationed, and you will have to put a little more effort into fending for yourself.
My displeasure at Ralph’s behaviour aside, I hope that you have a relaxing weekend.
A better mousetrap
Living on a farm means there’s critters both outside and inside. Outside, my philosophy is live and let live. Inside, I want two-legged creatures only.
However, the reality of country living is that every so often in the house we hear the pitter-patter of little feet… or more accurately the gnawing of little teeth.
I’m speaking, of course, of mice. (The snake and the toad were one-time visitors).
If there’s a mouse in my house, he is not long for this world.
Matt is the resident exterminator, and he has found a highly effective weapon: an electronic mouse trap.
Ours is made by Victor. Matt ordered it online, and we received the rat trap rather than the mouse trap, but it’s just as effective–probably moreso.
It runs on four C batteries. There’s a switch on the top that turns on the trap. One end is open for the mouse to enter. The other end is for the bait. Matt’s favourite is peanut butter.
As soon as the mouse enters the trap, the electricity kicks in and he receives the shock of his life–in fact, the last shock of his life.
If we’re within earshot, we hear a quiet buzzing for about half a minute. A green light on the top of the trap starts blinking when we have a victim.
Unlike other mousetraps, disposal is no-muss. Simply up-end the trap to dump the dead mouse into the garbage.
We’ve found it a very helpful solution to our occasional unwanted visitors.
Anyone else have an effective pest control solution? We have feline mousetraps too, but their assigned territories are outside, not in. What four-legged creatures do you have in your house?
Gobble gobble
At the top of Matt’s list of animals he most wants to see at the farm is wild turkeys. Well, we still haven’t seen any actual birds on our property, but over the Christmas holidays we found definitive proof that turkeys come to visit.
(The larger tracks walking diagonally in from the left side of the picture are Matt-tracks).
In the deep snow, I have to look pretty closely to identify the tracks as turkey. They walk one foot in front of the other, and, if they plant their foot properly, I’m sometimes able to pick out their distinctive three-toed print.
According to the tracks, 11 birds came through our farm. In some spots, you can see where their wings dragged as they were walking along.
While lefty has to deal with droopy wing syndrome, the guy to her right obviously has his own problems. My diagnosis is likely too much Christmas cheer.
Back in the marsh, where the ice was covered with only a thin dusting of snow, the tracks were unmistakably avian.
I wish I had thought to put something beside the tracks to show their scale. These are some big birds.
Since the thaw last weekend, we no longer have snow to help us with tracking. Matt’s fingers are crossed that the turkeys weren’t just passing through and instead are ready to become permanent residents. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open for signs.
No chandeliers here
Last week on the Art of Doing Stuff, Karen professed her love of chicken coops and shared images readers had submitted of their coops.
Her post inspired me to get out and investigate our chicken coop. I confess, this is a spot that I usually prefer to avoid.
Karen wrote, “some of the most dilapidated coops are among my favourites.”
Well, dilapidated is a good descriptor of our coop. If you’re feeling charitable, you might call it rustic. Usually, I tend to just call it gross.
Perhaps a chicken laid a very heavy egg and broke the concrete floor?
I’ve seen some coops with chandeliers and artwork. The leaky roof in ours has started to form stalactites, which I guess could be considered sculpture.
And in case you’re starting to wonder, you are in fact correct. The coop has not been cleaned out. Likely not for several years. (Warning: The next photo may spoil your appetite).
The coop is cozily tucked into the west side of the barn under the pines. The worn barn boards, old mullioned windows and generous size are appealing. The abandoned water and food dishes in the run, the layers and layers of manure inside and the overall dilapidated state both inside and out are decidedly not appealing.
I’m planning on adding geese, ducks and chickens to the farm someday, and they will need a home–a better home than this coop. My Dad (the general contractor) upon seeing the coop for the first time suggested that dynamite might be the best solution. We probably will end up starting over, but we’ll likely still end up more on the rustic side of coop design–I can’t see myself putting a chandelier in a chicken coop.
If you’re looking for some slightly more inspiring coops than ours (albeit no chandeliers), check out what Art of Doing Stuff readers submitted. And while you’re there, make sure to check out Karen’s own coop which completely puts ours to shame. Even though she says her hens don’t care how their coop looks, I don’t think Walnut and the ladies would be too happy if their home was anything like ours.
Home on 129 Acres 